New Year tends to be a time of reflection, a time when we look back over the past year and take stock. So what better time to announce the list of people who have contributed most to humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool in the most innovative ways. Yes, it is time for the Darwin Awards.

This year among the winners we have the tragic case of a man who fell into his own wood chipper. He was trying to clear a jam, but failed to switch the power off before doing so. Or the very security conscious fellow who wired his garden fence with household current, only to electrocute himself as he reached for a ripe tomato. Surely a clear illustration of the dangers of DIY.

More dangerous even that DIY, of course, is drug use. Or at least in can be if a little intelligence is not applied to the situation. Having smoked a few joints, a couple fell asleep on the roof of the King Charles Inn in North Carolina. In his drug induced snooze-fest the man did not notice as his other half slid off the roof to her death, also apparently oblivious to her fate.

The trump card in the pack and more proof that drugs-will-kill-you is the case of the Human Popsicle. An Ohio truck driver was reported as "missing in action" by his employers. The police found his frozen body, head down among the broccoli pallets in the back of his truck. He has apparently slipped while reaching for a stash of cocaine.

There were obviously a large number of stupid deaths in 2000 since the Darwin Awards panel is still deliberating on the honourable mentions list, which will be out in late January.

Meanwhile, more Darwin Award nominees and recipients can be found at the Darwin Awards homepage. ®